The Global Impact Coalition, a CEO-led industry group set up at the World Economic Forum to develop commercial solutions for sustainability challenges in the chemical value chain, has released a report finding that plastics from end-of-life vehicles can be recycled, but are not yet commercially viable at scale without major cost cuts and better coordination across the supply chain.
The report, Closing the Loop on Automotive Plastics, is based on a pilot involving BASF, a German chemical company; Covestro, a German materials company; LG Chem, a South Korean chemical company; LyondellBasell, a Dutch petrochemical company; Mitsubishi Chemical Group, a Japanese chemical company; SABIC, a Saudi chemical company; SUEZ, a French waste and water management company; and Syensqo, a Belgian specialty chemicals company.
The group processed 100 vehicles through dismantling, shredding and sorting, recovering about 8 metric tonnes of plastic, or more than 50% of the plastic content per vehicle.
“Closing the loop on automotive plastics is no longer a question of ambition, it is a question of execution,” said Charlie Tan, CEO of Global Impact Coalition.
The report finds dismantling and processing costs are still too high, with reductions of up to 75% needed to make a business case.
It identifies coordination as the main barrier. Automakers control material specifications, dismantlers control end-of-life vehicles, and recyclers and chemical companies depend on steady supply that does not yet exist.
More than 800,000 tonnes of automotive plastic is incinerated or landfilled each year in Europe, while EU rules will require 15% recycled plastic content in new vehicles within six years, rising to 25% within ten.
The pilot found more than 80% of recovered plastics can be dismantled or shredded with low to moderate effort, and that large parts such as bumpers, seats and interior plastics offer the most immediate recovery potential.
It also found sorting remains a major constraint. Multi-material parts, paint and additives reduce purity, and current sorting methods do not meet the quality needed for many automotive uses. Some components require pre-treatment before shredding to improve results.
The report highlights trade-offs in processing. Separating plastics into 22 streams improved purity but increased cost and effort, raising questions about whether to dismantle more parts or rely more on automated sorting.
It also found gaps in data and standards. Dismantlers often lack access to material composition data, and there are no shared specifications for recycled automotive plastics, limiting coordination across the value chain.
For mixed or contaminated plastics, the report points to chemical recycling and gasification as likely routes, alongside mechanical recycling for cleaner streams.
The coalition said a second phase will focus on building a business model, improving material quality and reducing costs to support large-scale deployment.
